


Second Chances: Obito's Quest

by DragonGrimoire



Category: Naruto, Naruto Shippuden
Genre: Byakugan Princess grows a backbone, Did Obito love Rin? i dont know and neither does he, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, NINJA THERAPISTS DO THEIR FUCKING JOBS, Obito did everything wrong and we love him anyways, Other, To no one's surprise Kakashi is dense about emotions, Uchiha coup goes very differently, edgelord baby gets actual childhood and some fucking therapy jesus christ, epic slap fight over the emotions of a boy who has to be explained the concept of romantic love to, hes saying it's platonic for good reason, idiots to lovers, little sand child gets a better life too but still has issues, monkey grandpa gets bitched out, or awful or barely plot relevant, why are all the parents in this series dead
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2020-10-28 17:50:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20782649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonGrimoire/pseuds/DragonGrimoire
Summary: As Obito dies, he confesses his love to Kakashi. A mysterious force *cough, cough, totally not the author pulling bullshit to justify why the universe would decide Obito of all people would be suited for this* sends Obito back to the day of Naruto's birth, and his attempts to break free of Madara's compulsion lead to shenanigans. and lots of yelling at a certain old man in a nice hat.





	1. Death and Rebirth

**Author's Note:**

> Blah blah I do not own naruto blah blah  
Here we go! I'm going to say this is obviously a little AU because Obito's feelings about Rin, while still intense here, are..probably more plationic? Canon was somewhat ambiguous about it, but here he definitively loved her like a sibling or close friend , with a bit of a crush. Also, it gets a lot more AU in uh, plot related ways. Anyways, here's chap 1! more soon. I'm actually rewatching/reading the series as I write this so my canon divergences will be intentional, hehe. Also, Kakashi's age of graduation has been moved up to match his teammates, though he did become a jonin before Obito's return. Yes. Kishimoto-san, why must you make other people fill your plot holes?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obito is somewhat telling the truth about his feelings for Rin but also he did have a legit love for her he just loves Kakashi more.

After the final battle of the Fourth Ninja World War, as the spirit of Obito Uchiha began to fade into the Pure Land, he mustered his remaining chakra and willpower, and reached out to Kakashi Hatake for one last conversation. 

"Kakashi…. I'm sorry. I played right into Madara's hands, and her plan. All because of that day. I let the Curse of Hatred take control of me out of ignorance and anger, " Obito's face and tone were filled with regret and pain. 

"I didn't understand why you killed her, and now I'm dead, and so are Sensei,Kushina- Sama,Jiraiya-San,and so many more."

"It's fine, dumbass. You ended up coming in and saving us, didn't you?"

The copy-ninja raised an eyebrow and removed his mask as the Sharingan faded from his eyes. "And besides,couldn't have known that it was a mercy kill, and you loved her, so it was understandable that you snapped when you saw your best friend killing the woman you-"

The Uchiha cut him off,scowling, as his feet dissolved into raw Chakra.

"You still think i loved her? After I gave my Sharingan to you, not once, but twice? Rin wasn't the person I loved."

Kakashi's eyebrows met his hairline, and his mouth dropped open.

"What?!?" He exclaimed, his usual monotone breaking into a confused yell.

Obito sighed, and massaged his scarred forehead with his left palm. "And here I thought you were the one of us with emotional intelligence. Kakashi Hatake...I loved- no, I love you. I was going to tell you that day, so I'd have a reason to not go train with Madara. But...I thought if you could kill her, how could you love me? I thought Madara was right, because i was just the weakling of the Uchiha, your only other fr-" 

He stopped as the other man reached out to him, his body glowing blue-white with power.

Kakashi channeled Chakra through his body and pulled Obito into a hug, trying to keep him intact with his own reserves. It wouldn't last long, but...it would last long enough to keep him intact a few minutes longer. His body shook as he held the Uchiha close, disregarding the coldness and semi-tangibility of his best friend's form. 

"Hey, you think you get to drop that shit on me and leave? When I've been waiting more than a decade to hear those words? Stick around for a bit." The white-haired man smiled, and if he hadn't been dead already, Obito was sure his heart would stop from what that smile did to it.

"You mean that?" He said, a smile to match his beloved's appearing on his scarred face.

"Yes, now kiss me before you go, you ass." 

Obito complied, and after a long,deep kiss, he stayed in the other man's arms till both men's Chakra ran dry, his fading arms locked around Kakashi's back. It was a peaceful comfort both wished would never end. Where was Naruto when you needed him? Surely his Sage Of Six Paths bullshit could recreate Obito's body? But it was not going to be that simple, sadly.

"It's not fair." Kakashi said, eyes dripping with tears. "I just got you back, and now I lose you again." His vision blurred, as he refused to let his love go to wipe his eyes. "Just give me a few years, ok? To set everything right. I'll love you in all our future lives, I promise." 

"I'll wait for you in the Pure Land, so if Ii find out you tried to use Impure World Reincarnation to bring me back, I won't be happy. Live and guide our home into the future. I'll see you in a few decades, Kakashi Of The Sharingan." As the last of Obito faded into Chakra and his soul went to the Pure Land, he smiled, content at last.

After the love of his life faded, the Copy Ninja was left standing alone.

Dropping to his knees, Kakashi wept and beat the ground.

"Give him back to me! I can't take losing him again! If there's a god out there… please, I'll do anything." But no answer came, or so it seemed.

***

Between the world of the living and The Pure Land

Obito's soul existed in a hazy state, his conscious flitting in and out every so often, waiting for his lover. He didn't know how long he'd been here, and he could see everyone he'd cared about waiting at the gates of the pure land for him, but he refused to move among the tide of souls heading in. He would wait for Kakashi, and that was final. Surprisingly, the Shinigami respected this desire, and left him alone.

After an indeterminate period of haziness,something approached Obito. It was a ball of multicolored light that resolved into two figures. They were both horned, tall and unnaturally pale men in their 20’s. But that was where the similarities ended. The one on the left had an overall broader build, short brown hair, rougher features,a goatee, a strange red marking on the center of his forehead, and Rinnegan in his eyes. The other one had a somewhat slimmer build. long bluish gray hair, softer features, and Byakugan in his eyes. Looking at their eyes, Obito understood the two men’s identities. The Sage Of Six Paths, Hagoromo Otsutsuki, and his brother Hamura, first user of the Byakugan.

Hagoromo spoke,“Obito Uchiha, we have come to you to make you an offer. As of now, the 4th Ninja World War is over, and there is peace, but the next generation will face a calamity even our mother feared.” He grimaced,as his brother nodded.

“With all due respect,Otsutsuki-sama, what could make Kaguya-sama that afraid?” Obito raised an eyebrow. There were things that could make the woman who was the Ten-Tails afraid?What could cause the mysterious god-like woman who’d fused with the world tree and was roughly equal to literally every ninja working together to take her down to feel fear? Come to think of it, where had she come from, anyway? Legends said that she'd come from the Heavens, but what exactly did that mean?

"Her clan, my dear descendant.You will need to prepare for their arrival after you prevent mother's plan from succeeding. As payment for attempting this task for us, you get a second chance with that Hatake fellow. As my spirit can travel through time, I shall visit you on occasion, and give you help when I can. Is this acceptable?" The Sage asked.

"Do I get any other choice?" Obito responded in kind. Oh, this was definitely tempting, but he wasn't sure how he'd handle either a second chance or such a big responsibility. What if he screwed everything up again? Did he even deserve this, and was he really suited to it?

"No, little one, you do not. There is the chance things will be fine if you do not go...but Obito Uchiha deserves the chance he never got, and the world needs as many Shinobi of your caliber and nature as it can get. Despite everything you've done,a golden heart beats in tune with the Will Of Fire within your chest. Now go, Uchiha. Make your Kakashi proud, and keep an eye on Naruto. He'll need you." Hagoromo and Hamura gathered Chakra, made hand signs, gestured, and tore a glowing hole in the hazy passage Obito was in. The hole glowed with all the various colors of the different chakra natures, and Obito instinctively dove into it, losing his consciousness.

***

When his consciousness was restored, he had just pulled the Nine-Tails out of Kushina Uzumaki, and as Kurama's claw came down, Obito barely managed to get her into his Kamui as the creature struggled against the control Obito had over him, much like Obito struggled against the cursed seal in his heart. 

"Shit,no no no! Not here, you old bastard! This is the worst possible moment!" Obito screamed, his voice shifting back to its natural state as he pulled his Sensei's wife into the Kamui dimension, and the fox managed to get out from under his control due to the Sharingan enforcing it being in another dimension. Noting that he was wearingt Tobi for some reason,he quickly inscribed the Iron Armor seal with his blood, sealing the manipulative former human into his own body.

Seeing all this, Kushina made a shocked expression, which then turned into pain and anger. "Obito? You're alive? Why the HELL did you do this? Since when does your Sharingan do that?" Obito felt a small flare of Chakra from somewhere on his adoptive mother's body. He could tell it was some kind of fuinjutsu, but nothing beyond that. Probably communication or something, since he couldn't see any obvious effects beyond a slight glow in one of her pockets.

"The day I supposedly died, Kushina-san... Madara Uchiha rescued me, nursed me back to health, and trained me as his successor, putting a cursed seal on his heart so I couldn't help but follow his plan. I'll explain the rest when Sensei gets here, and we'll need to get him to stab me in the heart to break the seal. "

"But what about the Nine-Tails?" Kushina asked, puzzled. 

"Kushina-san... I don't mean to be rude, but putting Kurama back into you would kill you. We'll seal him into little Naruto with the Adamantine Sealing chains,the Eight Trigrams, and whatever else we can."Obito's hands moved to the back of his head, and his mask dropped off his face and out of the Kamui dimension, shattering on the ground.

"Is that the only way? I guess we'll do it then. Obito, if we die sealing the fox-I mean Kurama...you know what you should do."Kushina's voice shook as fear replaced her anger.

"I'll look after him,don't worry." The two left the Kamui dimension, standing on the top of the walls of their village, and saw Kurama attacking Konoha, the beast's anger having overtaken him. Minato had just managed to rush over, and was rapidly forming a plan. That plan shattered like cheap glass when he recognized his student's face. Minato's expression was sheer disbelief,and he launched a Flying Thunder God kunai into the wall next to his loved ones, teleporting after it.

"Obito, tell me what the hell is going on." The Fourth Hokage stated flatly, his blue eyes boring into Obito's soul.

"Sensei, we don't have much time. Aim for my heart with one of your Kunai with a little lightning Chakra streamed into it."The Uchiha returned his teacher's glare levelly.

"You were never the suicidal type, so there must be something more to this. You're gonna live long enough to explain this, and that's an order." Minato concentrated, manipulating the nature of a small portion of his chakra into that of lightning and forcing it into a Kunai, before stabbing it into Obito's chest with precise force. The blade penetrated the uchiha's breastbone, the tip of the blade just barely touching the seal before the lightning Chakra destroyed it. The teenager howled wordlessly as the electric current destroyed the seal on his heart and his heartbeat, so previously frantic, stopped for a few terrifying seconds. Seeing Obito grab his chest, Minato pulled out the kunai and slammed a palm into Obito's chest, streaming just enough current into it to act as a makeshift defibrillator. 

"Sage's hairy pecs,that hurt like a motherfucker!" the teenage Uchiha wheezed.

Obito dropped to his knees,his scream tapering off to a groan, as the twin shocks damaged his heart and Hashirama's cells within him got to work. His crazy last-second plan had worked! Now he just needed to find a way to stabilize Kushina, perhaps a combination of medical jutsu and infusing some of Hashirama's cells into her? The Senju's extreme vitality should complement her natural Uzumaki toughness and save the life of the woman who he saw as the closest thing to a mother he'd ever had. He could even save Sensei, and that stupid Dead Demon Consuming Seal wouldn't need to be used! Both he and the Uzumaki boy would have a real family, and Kakashi wouldn't suffer the loss of all his precious people. It was perfect!

"Sensei, we need to get Naruto. I'll explain on the way." Obito struggled to his feet as Minato infused his own arms with chakra, picked up his wife and student, and chucked them onto his shoulders like he was carrying bags of rice as he poured Chakra into the Flying Thunder God technique to teleport the trio to his son. The trio appeared in a rather plain room decorated in Konoha's classic style, confusing the poor midwife who'd been keeping an eye on Naruto. Observing the room, Minato nodded at the woman, as if to say he'd explain later. She left the infant in the crib he'd been waiting in, the child wailing pitifully. His blue eyes,still adjusting to the light, locked onto the figures he instinctively identified as his parents, and the newborn boy screamed louder, as if demanding to be held.

Minato set Kushina, who was somehow more stable than the teenager, on her feet. She grabbed the infant with one arm and huddled close to Minato as the man set Obito down, supporting the younger man with a strong arm. Little Naruto seemed somewhat confused, but then one chubby little hand grasped onto the pointer finger of Kushina's right hand,as her left held her son close to her.The other grabbed Minato's left pinkie and, which was right next to his wife's hand as he wrapped his arm around her chest and stomach to help support her. The boy grinned and gripped onto his parent's fingers, attempting to shove them into his mouth as babies often do. Bit lively for a newborn, but then again Shinobi children were often precocious and Uzumaki even moreso, with their brains tending to run a mile a minute on about 12 trains of thought.

Minato and Kushina gently played a somewhat intense game of tug-of war with the stubborn infant as Obito began to explain everything. The nature of his tutorship by Madara, what the seal had done to him, the horrible events of the previous timeline, his woes, regrets, and worries, and his unsettling meeting with the Sage Of Six Paths. He also outlined the details of his plan to save Kushina and Minato while ensuring that Naruto became Kurama's Jinchuriki. A brief use of Wood Release Jutsu to separate some Hashirama cells from himself and integrate them into Kushina convinced the two that the plan would work, so they allowed the young time traveler to tell them about his past.The two let him go on and on as he used an illusion enhanced by the Sharingan to make a conversation that could have lasted more than an hour take around a few minutes. They offered opinions, concern, and care at different points during his story, and when Obito finished, Minato and Kushina managed to work the little huddle the three were in into a group hug. Doing this without squishing or upsetting Naruto was tricky, but it worked. Even if the boy did slobber on the young Uchiha's face. 

Minato and Kushina stared at the teenager from within the somewhat awkward group hug."Obito.... we are so proud of you.Let's do this." The two said at the same time, tones and expressions full of parental love. Obito had never realized it, but it seemed that Minato and Kushina really meant it when they said they'd adopt him way back when. As little Naruto continued to drool on his face, Obito thought about how he'd never really understood his own emotions toward his sensei and the terrifying yet kind woman who said sensei had married, but he did now. He'd seen them as his parents. Different from how Rin was his best friend or Kakashi was the one he'd set his heart on, these two and the small child currently sucking on one of his facial scars as if it were his mother's chest were his family. This time...this time he wouldn't lose them. 

Obito's one natural and one borrowed black eye locked with Minato's blues. "Sensei, if you dare to use that stupid soul-sealing jutsu, ill use that damn mask to get you out,use Impure World Reincarnation to bring you back, and then steal Nagato's Rinnegan to bring you back. Know this." he deadpanned.

Minato seemed shocked and a bit offended, but nodded and said "Look,from what you told me that didn't go super great last time, so I won't this time. I won't have my family sacrificing themselves for me." The blond man pulled the teenager just that bit tighter into the hug and said. "Obito? Right now i'm adopting you. If we live through this, we'll make it official." Kushina nodded and smiled, likewise tightening her grip on the teenager she considered to be her elder son.

Obito choked down the rest of what he wanted to say, to thank these people for everything and to tell them he already loved them like he would have the parents he never met, and instead said "Let's go seal that huge ass fox." in his Tobi voice.

Minato chuckled, Kushina rolled her eyes, and then the 4 teleported to the walls of Konoha. Hiruzen Sarutobi had just pushed the beast out of Konoha with Enma's staff form. Kurama was charging his second Tailed Beast Ball, and was about to unleash it. Minato made the correct seals to summon Gamabunta while Obito activated his Mangekyo and pulled the attack into the Kamui dimension before jumping back into the real world, allowing it to detonate harmlessly in the dimension that belonged to Obito and Kakashi. The former Hokage and The Copy-Ninja's jaws dropped as they recognized the seemingly insane young Shinobi. 

"But...you're dead!" Kakashi yelled, heedless of the situation.

"Long story, i'll explain later. Right now Sensei, Kushina-san, and I gotta seal the giant furball." The Sharingan user yelled back as a positively huge red toad that held a pipe in his clawed hands appeared in front of Minato.

"Oi, 'Bunta! Restrain the fox while we teleport him away, I've got a plan!" Minato barked.

"You better know what you're doing, Namikaze." The toad boss grunted, and then tensed his legs for a colossal hop. A red blur arced through the air, heading for the tailed beast. A loud THWACK echoed as the toad who favored Yakuza mannerisms smacked down onto the rather surprised mega-fox.

"What the fuck?" Kurama roared as he was pinned in place by several tons of squishy toadflesh. "What's the meaning of this? Controlled by the same bastard Uchiha from a century ago only to be abruptly let go for no reason, and when I come to my senses and fight back you sic a fucking FROG on me. A FROG. Wonder what Dad would think of all this bullshit." The Nine-tails sighed and relaxed his struggle somewhat. He'd wait for these idiots to try to seal him, and then strike at exactly the right moment to get away.Yes, that should work. He really did wonder what Hagoromo would think of the child he created to protect humans savaging their village, but this time they'd really brought it on themselves.

Damn Madara messing up his life again. He'd rather be off hunting some of those weird Chakra-mutant animals or bullying his siblings, but yet, he was here. Despite how much Kurama hated humans, especially the ones that had caged him like a wild beast instead of ever trying to reason with him, he'd rather do other things than massacre them. After all, The Sage had told him and his siblings that humans were both a species of incredible compassion and boundless kindness, and cruel and apathetic, depending on the individual and the situation. Kurama was no more of a monster than humans had made him, after all, and before Madara had gone and controlled him, he'd often helped out Shinobi in return for offerings of food or entertainment when he lived in the Fire Temple. His hatred, like his siblings', had grown out of seeing so much of humanity's dark side that he'd begun to absorb it, and then being sealed into two separate women like a damn battery without even getting to give his opinion on anything.

"Huh, guess the demon isn't exactly a mindless monster after all." Kakashi stated, seemingly nonchalant.

"Oi, asshole. Just because Old Man Six Paths created you tailed dick-heads personally doesn't mean you're justified being a prick." The toad boss said, firmly keeping his weight on the massive fox. Minato and Kushina, having already been briefed on this by Obito, showed no surprise as Minato gathered chakra to perform a massive teleport for the three Shinobi, one Toad, and one very angry Bijuu.

"Shut your mouth, brat! I was centuries old when you hatched." The Nine-tails barked, seeing a round-about insult to Hagoromo in the toad's words.

"Che, you must be as old as the Great Toad Sages then. Doesn't matter though, Fox-geezer, because I've held you down long enough." the toad boss smirked.

"For what?" Kurama quirked an eyebrow bigger than a human was tall as the Flying Raijin teleport went off. Obito, Kushina,Naruto, Minato, and Kurama vanished as Gamabunta returned to Mount Myoboku.The four humans and one very pissed fox appeared near the safe house outside of Konoha, and the Fourth Hokage slammed his left palm into the ground, summoning the sealing altar.

The fox began to freak out as Kushina set up the Adamantium Sealing Chains as a barrier around them, his grip on rational thought slipping a little as the sheer fear of being bound and tortured inside that woman again took over his better nature. Sure, Kushina Uzumaki didn't actively punish the fox unless he tried to break free, but having those chains imbedded into his flesh was just sadistic! To top it all off, neither she nor her predecessor had ever bothered trying to get to know him! Just because he was a huge beast with so much Chakra that his flesh was practically made of the stuff didn't mean he wasn't a person! He conveniently ignored the fact that after several hundred years of being seen as nothing but a tool of war and seeing humanity's capacity for evil, his chakra and his morality had taken on a somewhat dark, vengeful nature for anyone he didn't trust implicitly.

In his youth, before Dad died and he and his siblings split up, he'd been mischievous and a bit egotistical, sure. He'd perhaps been overconfident in his assessment of himself as the strongest tailed beast and hurt the feelings of his siblings. But he'd become twisted in the first place, even moreso than his siblings, due to the great empathy he was gifted with. Later, said empathy had twisted into a gift for manipulation, but it never entirely went away. Hell, even his proclaiming himself an incarnation of hatred was a combination of the anger he felt for humans and an attempt to scare the little primates that ruled the world he lived in straight. But...Kurama really had come to hate everything and everyone, especially after his time being used as a glorified battery. What did it matter if he could see how he'd changed if no one would ever leave him in peace or trust him in any real fashion? As the beast pondered, he saw Minato summon Gerotora the scroll toad, inscribe something on him,and then send him off. 

As Kurama mused on his own thought and on what had been inscribed on the toad, Minato and Obito unleashed two Eight Trigrams Seals. Kushina created and unleashed more Adamantine Sealing Chains, manipulating them in concert with the two other Shinobi to separate the gigantic beast into two halves, his Yin and Yang Chakra.The two smaller foxes looked at each other and began to attack the three Shinobi. Minato sparred with Yin Kurama, keeping the fox at bay through abuse of the Rasengan and Flying Thunder God teleportation, allow Obito to successfully link his Eight Trigrams Seal to both Naruto and the fox. Yang Kurama screamed as his Chakra was sucked into the infant on the altar, vanishing from sight. Obito collapsed by the altar, drained from abusing his abilities and the sheer amount of Chakra and focus the seal had required. Kushina and Minato locked eyes as Kushina joined in the fight against the nine-tails, turning more and more chains from the barrier into offensive weapons. After a few more clashes, Minato and Kushina were almost drained of Chakra, and determined to protect their children. Minato picked the exhausted Obito up by the collar of his robes and dropped him onto the altar, as Kushina stood guard, continuing to manipulate her chains. Yin Kurama charged the altar, getting closer and closer as Minato's seal linked Obito and the Yin-half of the strongest tailed beast. As it succeeded, and the fox was drawn into Obito, the clever beast unleashed one last desperation attack, stabbing Minato and Kushina cleanly through their hearts.

"Sensei, Kushina-san,no! Not me! This wasn't the plan!" The young Uchiha yelled, fruitlessly attempting to get up as the exhaustion and Chakra exhaustion set in. The beast was sucked into Obito, and Minato and Kushina collapsed onto the sides of the altar.

Minato smiled sadly. "Change of plans, Obito. Raise Naruto well, and teach him about life. Tell him...we love him."

Kushina's expression echoed Minato's. "`Bito, you're his big brother now, so keep him safe. Give him all the love that big Uchiha heart of yours can spare. Don't let him get into trouble with girls or drugs or anything, ok? Tell everyone that our son's a hero to the leaf, and give the Third a good beating for me if he tries to pull the same shit he did to my baby last time."

Obito struggled not to cry as he took the infant lying beside him into his arms. "Sensei, Kushina-san. Wait,no, Mom. Dad. Don't worry about me. I'll take care of him." Obito began to bawl as the Adamantine Sealing Chains faded, his vision blurring with tears and heartbroken sobs escaping his tightly clenched jaws.

"Good. Naruto, listen to Obito. Train hard, play hard, do your best at whatever you do. But if you don't succeed, don't give up or get discouraged.Be kind and respectful to everybody. Be careful about Jiraiya-sensei, he's smart and kind but he's a huge perv. And Naruto, Obito? Both of you save your money smartly and follow your dreams. There's so much more left to say, but we don't have any more time. Goodbye, my sons. I love you."

"Like your mother said, keep all that stuff in mind. I never really got to be a dad but... I love you, Naruto, and you, Obito. " The two dying people reached up and pulled the teenager and the infant into their arms, infusing their Chakra into the infant's seal and unknown to the Uchiha, into his as well.

Obito operated his Sharingan to pull the same genjutsu he had on his loved ones on Hiruzen,and barely managed to explain everything and threaten the Sarutobi man with an eternity of pain if he didn't help him fix things before passing out. For his part, Hiruzen was remarkably receptive, as Obito had divulged information out to him Hiruzen had believed only he knew as evidence. As Obito's mind faded, he put his trust in the Third Hokage, hoping beyond hope that it would pay off, and that he wouldn't have to add yet another thing to the list of things he needs to yell at the old man for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so i played a little fast and loose with how some things work, that's deliberate. Hagoromo accidentally messed with reality a bit, Madara has backup plans for his backup plans, and our boy Obito gets a punch in the emotional gut. standby for farther shenans and me pulling shit out of my ass in true Kishimoto style.Also, writing will be more descriptive starting next chap.


	2. New, and Yet Familiar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plans are made, a Hokage is bullied, and overpowered grandpas act as overpowered grandpas do. Also, our favorite white-haired ninja has big questions for our hero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, my life situation went to hell. However, i should be able to post in a relatively normal (once every couple weeks, probably) schedule soon, and will be beginning another story in a very different fandom very soon that will be updated alongside this!

When the young Uchiha woke up,he was in the Hokage’s office, lying on what seemed to be the kind of bedroll he’d used during the Third War. Hiruzen Sarutobi was sitting in a lotus position, dressed in simple clothing. The formal uniform of the Hokage lay on a corner of the desk, and the old man’s eyes were filled with concern as he stared down at the teenager who  _ somehow knew about ROOT _ . He’d tolerated Danzo’s little organization long enough, and with the future the boy had told him about and the proof he’d used to show it ,(knowledge of Orochimaru’s experiments,Jutsu he couldn't know about without reading the Scroll of Seals), he knew he needed to stop tolerating some things before everything went to hell in a handbasket. 

He’d already failed to stop Danzo from manipulating Hanzo of the Salamander into murderous paranoia, so he’d have to put a more permanent stop to the man’s ambitions before he managed to get his hands on Sharingan and Senju cells, though he may already be too late for tha- the Third Hokage noticed that Obito’s right eye didn’t quite seem to be his own, but couldn’t place who it belonged to.Probably one from Madara’s collection, if one believed Obito (and Hiruzen did). 

“Old man… tell me how long I've been out and what happened.” Obito requested, his eyes locking with the older man’s.

“Sure, but first tell me whose Sharingan that is.” Hiruzen pointed at the boy’s right eye.

“Kagami’s… Danzo has the other one.” Obito shrugged.

“Danzo has a Sharingan, eh? And if that Uchiha Massacre that you told me is going to happen is anything to go by, he plans on getting more. I… I guess I know what I need to do, and I’m going to need your help, Obito.” The facade of the Third Hokage fell away, and Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly seemed decades older than he really was.

“After everything you failed at? After you let the village  _ terrorize _ Naruto and the Anbu who were supposed to guard him  _ joined in _ outside of Kakashi? After you let a  _ goddamn teenager kill his entire clan  _ because you turned a blind eye to it? After you let Orochimaru slither away? You failed and failed and failed, Hiruzen,always being merciful to the  _ wrong damn people . _ ” Obito’s tone carried a lifetime of bitterness and pain, and it hurt both the parts of him that were the Third Hokage, and the parts that were Hiruzen Sarutobi. The Third was ashamed for failing as a leader and a Shinobi, but Hiruzen? Hiruzen was upset that his mistakes had put so much hurt into this boy’s heart, and ruined so many lives. Above all,even as a Shinobi who regularly had to face the dark side of the world and had needed to compromise his own heart and shut off his empathy at points in his career, Hiruzen Sarutobi was an idealist. Hiruzen believed everyone could and would change for the better, given the right guidance. But to learn that his own leniency had only caused Danzo and Orochimaru to fall further into darkness? That would simply not do.

For too long, he had given those two the carrot, and now it was time to use the stick. He had to prevent the other Hiruzen’s mistakes from playing out, or he’d have to live knowing that he’d failed Konoha even with forewarning.

“I know, Obito, I know. But this time? None of that will happen. I swear,both on my honor as the Third Hokage, and on the heart of Hiruzen Sarutobi, teacher and ninja and father.” The old man’s eyes flashed with determination, and in that moment Obito couldn't help but believe in him.

“Fine, Gramps, but I’m keeping an eye on you. We’ve got a lot ahead of us, so tell me what’s up and we’ll get down to planning.” Obito raised an eyebrow, staring at the older man.

“It has been 3 days you’ve been out, Obito, and I spread the word that Naruto is Minato’s son, his wishes for his son, and the true nature of the Jinchuriki phenomenon. It will likely not be enough, but it will certainly prevent the full scope of the poor child’s mistreatment.” The old man’s voice carried a bitter tone.

“Well, that’ll have Iwa aiming for the kid’s head and possibly have Akatsuki on our asses earlier than we should, but it’s always easier to guard against external threats than internal. Despite everything, you’re still a clever old fuck, so I assume you know what we need to do next?” The young Uchiha smirked at the older man, the coldness in his eyes belying his casual tone and expression.

The Third simply smirked in return, before adopting a serious expression again as he considered the best path for the future. “Right now our main goals should be to prevent the Uchiha insurrection and to protect Naruto and the other Jinchuriki as much as we can. Konoha needs to be united before we can get the other nations to take this whole thing seriously, and the benefits of protecting the Tailed Beasts and their containers are fairly obvious.We’ll need to go about gathering allies and our own forces in an efficient manner if we’re going to have even the slightest chance of defeating the God-like albino space immortals, which is a sentence I never believed i’d say in any serious manner.”

The old man and the teenager sat in silence for a few seconds, pondering how in the hell they’d gotten themselves into the kind of adventure that Jiraiya might have cooked up if he’d bothered to focus his creativity and intelligence on things that weren’t flimsy excuse plots for mediocre porn, when a CRACK was heard and the ghostly figures of two actual legends appeared in front of them, arguing.

“I told you we got the timing off, Hagoromo! If you’d bothered to listen instead of launching right into the Ultra-Wise Overpowered Grandpa routine, we wouldn’t be down a Jinchuriki and a Kage-level Shinobi!” The Byakugan Saint raised his fist at his brother.

“Remind me how it’s my fault an experimental technique based on our Bloodline Limits, Space-Time Manipulation, and essentially tricking the universe itself into allowing time travel going slightly wrong is my fault?” Hagoromo asked, a tick mark appearing on his forehead.

"Because upon realizing you fucked up, you immediately dragged me along to help you give advice and veiled threats to two out of three Sannin, Hiashi Hyuga, and at least one other person, as well as to participate in a few other shenanigans that haven't happened yet?"

Hamura's white eyes bulged as he tried to activate the Byakugan to give his brother a good beating, forgetting for a moment that his actual eyes were elsewhere and he was but a spirit sustained by a ridiculous quantity of chakra, and that his Byakugan had long become the Tenseigan regardless. Sometimes, being an OP grandpa is suffering. 

"Hey hey, spoilers! We're not here to argue and explain precisely how time travel did weird stuff to the timeline and reality just by happening, or to explain what genius plots I came up with to weigh things in our favor in the long term,but to help the youngsters plan and stuff!" 

The two ancient Sages turned toward Obito and Hiruzen, seeming a bit sheepish. The two Leaf ninja just stared at the men around a thousand years their senior, staring at the ultimate proof of the theory that the more strong and skilled you became, the more weird shit it did to your personality.

"Never meet your heroes, Obito. You'll be disappointed every time." Sarutobi grumbled like a petulant child.

"Been there, done that,Hokage-sama." The boy replied in his Tobi voice. Speaking of the demented swirl-faced Zetsu clone, Obito had plans for him. With a tailed beast in him and Hashirama's cells integrated into him, he wouldn't suffer any negative effects from removing the thing from his body and putting the ex-human in someone else. After all, fusion with Tobi could provide someone with larger reserves and access to the Wood Release… it'd have to be someone he trusted , who could make good use of the boost, and could keep the deranged ex-human servant of Kaguya in line. He knew the perfect candidate, even if said candidate would probably complain about it. Stupid stubborn noble bastard.

Regardless of Obito's musings, the four would chat late into the night, making plans and preparing for the future ahead. As such, Hagoromo taught Obito how to access the mental space all the Jinchuriki shared, and how to commune with the Yin half of Kurama sealed inside him. The old man explained that he had...unique plans for the other Tailed Beasts, including the Yang half of Kurama sealed in Naruto, but wouldn't disclose them yet. Obito figured he shouldn’t press for details in case he screwed up the wily old man’s plans. The old man also used Creation Of All Things to more evenly spread the Zetsu flesh and Hashirama cells Madara had saved him with throughout his body and to turn the eerie white Zetsu flesh the same color as the rest of him, as well as reducing his scarring somewhat, though he left a good portion of the facial scarring alone at Obito’s request.This rearranging would make it easier to use Wood Release, help the growth of his reserves, and would apparently be useful in the future. He wouldn’t be terrifying children with his face, but it’d still be obvious to anyone that Obito had gone through a lot.

***

The next day, when Obito left the Hokage tower to head back to the Uchiha Compound, he was stopped just outside the tower by a familiar masked figure. Obito’s heart raced as he tried to figure out how to even talk to him when the teenager in front of him glared at him with his one uncovered eye.

“It’s been a long, long time, Obito.” The white haired teenager growled.

“Hey, two years might be a while to think I'm dead but I assure you I had very good reasons-” Obito managed before the other boy Interrupted him.

“It’s been a hell of a lot longer than that. If you want to talk instead of pretending you don’t know what i’m talking about, follow me.” 

Before Obito could even deny what the other boy had said,Kakashi’s body flickered with the telltale shimmer of a shunshin before he appeared on a nearby roof. Obito followed, with the Uchiha chasing the Hatake across the roofs of Konoha until the two arrived at the Hokage monument, standing next to each other on the stony head of Hashirama Senju. Kakashi sat down and gestured for Obito to do likewise. He complied, wondering how in the world he was going to explain himself out of this one. He opened his mouth, his voice cracking and rough with emotion.

“Tell me, ‘Kashi. How long  _ has _ it been for you since that rock crushed me.”

“Well, until the night you reappeared, it’d been two years or so. But that weird old ghost dude came to see me and did something to my head and suddenly we’d just beaten the Rabbit Goddess and I'd just watched you disintegrate into weird soul stuff after telling me you’d loved me.” The white haired ninja barked out his signature chuckle, as if to say their mutual affection was the weirdest part of what had gone down the day of Kaguya’s defeat.

“Well in that case, we have a lot of time to make up for and a big complicated plan to deal with...but for now, where do we go from here?” The black-haired teen asked, reaching out to gently stroke the other boy’s cheek.

Kakashi stiffened slightly, unused to such gentleness and intimacy from his rival/biggest regret/former enemy/best friend/love interest. The teenager flushed slightly under his mask, and despite having lived nearly 30 years he really was still emotionally and somewhat mentally a teen. Neither he nor Obito had really emotionally matured beyond their teenage years due to a combination of trauma, stubbornness, and lack of healthy friendships and relationships. Sure, the two had ostensibly mentally matured, but underneath it all they’d had their respective issues preventing real growth as a person. This wasn’t exactly unusual for a shinobi, as many ninja were immature, mentally ill, unstable, or otherwise out of the norm in some way. 

Pushing his darker thoughts away for a second, the Second White Fang peeled off his gloves and then wrapped his hands around the one on his cheek, pulling the other boy’s hand off his cheek and into his own hand.

“Well, eventually we have to get around to defusing the Uchiha Rebellion and all that, but for now I just want to spend time getting to know you all over again.” Acting on impulse, he pulled down his mask with his free hand and leaned into to kiss Obito like he had decades in the future that felt like yesterday.

Obito practically melted into the kiss, managing a barely coherent mumble that sounded like “oh, you will” before returning it. And just like that, the two teenagers would quietly pass a little while before getting back to the responsibilities they had to bear and explanations they’d have to give each other and their loved ones. The road to a bright future would be a hard one, but the two would always have each other, and that would be enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While there may be lots of good things ahead, there will be suffering and terror and plenty of weirdness, because they're needed and I'm an asshole.

**Author's Note:**

> There's a bit of stuff here with the exact function of the cursed seal in Obito's heart and some things that will be revealed later that amount to "Madara had backup plans/ Hagoromo pressing the reset changed some things." Also Kushina was DEFINITELY a fuinjutsu master, she's a goddamn Uzumaki back when that meant more than just a shitton of chakra and strong life force. Who do you think taught Minato all those Uzumaki clan fuinjutsu?and hey, Minato and Kushina will be revived when 'bito can figure out a way to use Rinne Tensei without killing its user, because he kind of wants to save Nagato.Poor Nagato might or might not be catching a break, ill take people's advice on that one. I dunno, don't YOU want the ame orphans to actually stick with Jiraiya? Either way, there will be major villainy afoot so it won't be easy street but the good guys will be ahem *more prepared* than canon. If Nagato doesn't end up becoming Pain, probably. Madara has more shit up his sleeves, he always does. Probably something like implanting Sharingan into Uzumaki? I don't know, ill consult Kishimoto-san's great principle of "anything remotely related to Hagoromo is complete asspull and works however the fuck I deem it does". Regardless, 'Bito's plan will probably involve some bullshit with all those Zetsus Madara has clogging up his closets, yes. Also, I have plans for the uchiha coup. put bets in the comments on who will survive and how poor Sasuke will cope with a certain amount of Uchiha death because I don't want to create that many goddamn OCs. Jesus Christ Obito is gonna have so many things to bitch to Hiruzen about because really, everything went to absolute hell after Minato's death and Danzo is responsible for most of it.


End file.
